The inaugural exhibition entitled "Color Space and Living Space - the Villa" puts the spotlight on home and dwelling in interwar architecture, drawing on the rich material of MÉM-MDK (about 1.3 million documents, plans, photos, and furniture). In the former children's room, the visitor can get acquainted with the progressive principles of the time related to education, the study room reflects on the theme of work, and the keyword is comfort.
The project is inaugurated as the first piece of the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center (MÉM-MDK) to be installed in the buildings occupied by the former Hospital. The exhibition will open to visitors on May 18.
József Fischer was born on April 12, 1901 in Budapest. In 1922 he married the engineer Eszter Pécsi, with whom he would found his own architecture studio in the 1930s, and who would be the author of the structural calculations for Fischer's works.
Fischer was 35 years old when the villa was built in 1936, and by then he had already been working as an architect for several years in collaboration with Eszter Pécsi. Fischer and Pécsi were members of the Hungarian section of CIAM, the International Congresses of Modern Architecture, where the objective was the creation of social housing, according to the principles of the Charter of Athens, dealing with issues such as minimum housing and the massive construction of residences.
However, the reality at the beginning of the 1930s was that modern architects mainly designed villas(1), family houses, and weekend houses, responding to commissions from the intellectual elite. Fischer's residential houses were outstanding examples of modern Hungarian architecture, such as the house designed as experimental housing in Napraforgó Street (1931) and the Villa Hoffmann in Szépvölgyi Street (1933-1934).
Shortly before the start of the construction of Rózsi Walter Villa, Fischer would publish an article entitled, "Designer and Client", in January 1936, in which he openly expressed his opinion on the relationship between the client and the architect, and who had the last word on the project. (2)
"Fischer wrote that doctors also 'treat cases in their own way, not according to the demands of patients.' According to Fischer, the architect projects with foresight, taking into account the client's goals, as well as considerations that the client might not think of for himself."
Walter Villa, Access Facade by József Fischer and Eszter Pécsi. Source, Magazine.- Tér és Forma, 1937, no. 01, pp18-21.
Keeping in mind an image of clients with non-modern tastes, Fischer projects the floor plan of the house showing aspects of transition between a compartmentalized and hierarchical vision and a more modern open one. The spatial organization of the house dialogues between the principles of representativeness and functionality. Thus, on the ground floor, the program is destined for a shared space for the service rooms. However, on the first floor, with much higher ceilings, Fischer developed a flexible and fluid space dedicated to the dining room, the living room, or the room for receiving guests and giving concerts.
Shortly after, and already embarked on the realization of the house, József Fischer would proudly comment to his friend Marcel Breuer that he was building it in a letter, on April 26, 1936.
Although the main Hungarian architecture magazine, "Tér és Forma / Space and Shape", did not publish an article about the villa until January 1937, thanks to an interview with Rózsi Walter months before in a local newspaper,(3) it is confirmed that the villa on Bajza Street was completed in September 1936, and its owner had already started furnishing it in late August or early September.
The villa was initially furnished with neo-baroque furniture, common at the time, creating a contrast to the clean, modern design of the house. This did not mean that the owners were not delighted with the result, as stated by József Fischer in his memoirs.(4) Confirmation of this assessment is that the clients subsequently commissioned Fischer to extend their holiday home in Buda, and later they bought the well-known house of Lajos Kozma on the island of Lupa.
NOTES.-
Shortly after, and already embarked on the realization of the house, József Fischer would proudly comment to his friend Marcel Breuer that he was building it in a letter, on April 26, 1936.
Although the main Hungarian architecture magazine, "Tér és Forma / Space and Shape", did not publish an article about the villa until January 1937, thanks to an interview with Rózsi Walter months before in a local newspaper,(3) it is confirmed that the villa on Bajza Street was completed in September 1936, and its owner had already started furnishing it in late August or early September.
The villa was initially furnished with neo-baroque furniture, common at the time, creating a contrast to the clean, modern design of the house. This did not mean that the owners were not delighted with the result, as stated by József Fischer in his memoirs.(4) Confirmation of this assessment is that the clients subsequently commissioned Fischer to extend their holiday home in Buda, and later they bought the well-known house of Lajos Kozma on the island of Lupa.
NOTES.-
1. Karel Teige would criticize Le Corbusier and Gropius for carrying out mostly housing for the elites and relegating social housing. Mentioned in: José Juan Barba. «MINIMUM HOUSING» CIRCUS, Madrid: Jaia Lore Artean, b. 138. Madrid, 2006. [Karel Teige. "The minimum dwelling". Ed. MIT, Massachusetts, 2002. Trans. Eric Dyuhosch."]
2. Tér és Forma, 1936, no. 1, pp. 30–31.
3. Pesti Naplo, 13 September 1936, p. 23.
4. Fischer József emlékezései 1972–74-ből [Memoirs of József Fischer from 1972–1974]. In: Lapis Angularis I. Források a Magyar Építészeti Múzeum gyűjteményéből – Hauszmann Alajos, Maróti Géza, Kozma Lajos, Kotsis Iván Fischer József, Gádoros Lajos, ed. Hajdú Virág – Prakfalvi Endre. Budapest: OMvH Magyar Építészeti Múzeum, 1995, p. 319.
2. Tér és Forma, 1936, no. 1, pp. 30–31.
3. Pesti Naplo, 13 September 1936, p. 23.
4. Fischer József emlékezései 1972–74-ből [Memoirs of József Fischer from 1972–1974]. In: Lapis Angularis I. Források a Magyar Építészeti Múzeum gyűjteményéből – Hauszmann Alajos, Maróti Géza, Kozma Lajos, Kotsis Iván Fischer József, Gádoros Lajos, ed. Hajdú Virág – Prakfalvi Endre. Budapest: OMvH Magyar Építészeti Múzeum, 1995, p. 319.
